The Smallest Light Shines Through the Darkness
by AryaTyrell
Summary: Sooo... what would happen if there was a girl involved? Based on the movie.   Will/OC
1. School's Out

I've always wanted to be a writer. I've got about three I'm-going-to-finish-this-and-I'm-serious novels sitting in my hard drive (half-finished, of course). I idolize J.K. Rowling and J.R.R Tolkien. I've always aced narrative assignments in Creative Writing.

But I really wanted to write something from my life, something nonfiction. Something interesting, mind you. I wasn't about to write a story about the first tree I climbed.

And suddenly I had my own story.

This is my story.

The bell chimed three times, signaling the end of the day (and the start of winter break) at my new middle school. In London. As in, London, England.

Yeah, sounds kind of strange, right? Here's how it all happened:

Okay. so a few months ago I found out that my best friend for life, Will Stanton, was moving to London. I was like, AWOL? What's not to love about America? We've got burgers while those English people have frog legs.

But since my mom and Mrs. Stanton have a reaaallly close friendship (sort of like me and Will… do you see a recurring theme here? I do) they let me go with them. Believe it or not, I'm allowed to stay with the Stantons until I call home and say I'm coming back. My mom's not a bad person or anything. She's a dreamy kind of person, and she thinks that it's good for the artistic mind to travel the world. Yup. She's been to China, India, Japan, England, Mexico, Australia, and the Philippines. She wants to go to South Africa next.

What am I missing? Oh yeah, I'm Tess by the way. Tess Johannsenn.

But back to school. So I'm standing there in the middle of the hallway like a rock in a stream- British students just flowed left and right by me. I'm claustrophobic, and believe me that was NOT a good experience. Everywhere students were yelling, calling and texting the same four words I've heard for six hours: "Have a good holiday." I looked around wildly, hoping to see someone I knew.

_There _was Will, Thank God. He was standing by his locker, not getting his books but his iPod. But I would have never seen him if his hair wasn't sticking up all over the place like a pineapple. See, his twin brothers, Robin and Paul, got him this bottle of hair gel last Christmas and he's used it every day ever since. Actually, I think Will is the only one in his family that has blonde hair- everyone else has got a light brown color. Otherwise, he looked totally normal- red jacket, striped shirt, and blue eyes like the sky.

I snuck up on him and mimicked a British accent. "Cheerio, mate! Fancy a cup of tea?"

He jumped, and I laughed.

"Jeez, Tess," he said, picking up the fallen papers that spilled from his backpack. "I thought you were some random English kid."

"I'm a random _American_ kid," I giggled.

He closed his locker and we walked through the pandemonium. "So, do you have anything in mind for your birthday? You've survived this world 14 years. That's an accomplishment." I remarked.

"Nothing really," he said. "But I have-"

He never got to finish his sentence. Robin and Paul, who had snuck up behind us, broke him off. Robin plucked out Will's headphones and practically screamed: "Let's get outta here, man!" Robin raced up the corridor.

"School's out!" said Paul, following him.

"What's up, little brother?" asked James, the third-oldest. "I'm catching up with the twins."

When James left, that's when Will stopped and stared into space. Or so I thought. I followed his gaze and found my eyes upon a girl a few yards in front of us. She had olive-colored skin and long curly hair. Her red scarf was dancing in the wind.

I prodded him. "Someone's got a crush"

He looked at me and blushed. "Do not."

"Do too."

"Whatever."

We rounded the corner and nearly ran into Gwen, Will's only sister. She's got long brown hair and a really great smile.

"Hi, Will, Tess."

"Hey Gwen, what's up?" I asked her.

"Nothing much," she shook her head. "But Mrs. Lacey gave us like 5 pages of math to do over winter break!"

I grinned. Gwen sucked at math, a subject I prided myself in.

"Walk now, talk later," Will said, rolling his eyes. "We're gonna miss the bus."

"Race you," I challenged.

"You're so on."

The three of us bolted, melting through the slush of students. The cold wind felt refreshing on my face, giving me more energy.

When we got on the bus, our faces were flushed from the sudden burst of energy and we were gasping for breath. We joined James and the twins at the back, plopping ourselves in the seats in front of them.

"So Will, any thoughts on your first semester as an American overseas?" inquired Robin, shoving his camera in Will's face.

Will covered up the camera's lens with his hand. "Guys stop."

"Just answer the question," Paul urged. "And in English, please," he said, putting on an exaggerated British accent.

"At an English school," laughed Robin. "The people want to know if you've made any friends. That's their question to you."

But Will wasn't listening to them. His eyes had found that of the girl with the red scarf. For some reason that really ticked me off.

"Any, uh, lady friends?" Paul asked in an undertone.

"Hey guys, back off," I said, suddenly defensive. "It's his love life, not yours."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" asked Gwen. "I mean, why not?"

Right around then, the brakes squealed, and my bag, placed just so by my foot, went skidding down the aisle. At the same moment, the girl with the red scarf got up, accidentally dropping her scarf.

Will jumped up like a jack-in-the-box, and dashed down the aisle, snatching up the velvet scarf. But by this stage the girl was already off the bus. That didn't stop Will- he shouted through the window, "Wait! You forgot your scarf!" But the bus pulled away.

"Thanks for getting my bag," I said sarcastically as he came back down the bus aisle. Robin and Paul laughed.

"Whatever," he mumbled, cramming the scarf into his bag.

"Hey guys, look who's home!" called Mrs. Stanton as we came through the door.

"Max!" we all cried. Max was the second-oldest. He'd been away at college for the past couple of years, and I haven't really seen much of him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

"Family Christmas," he said simply, hugging Gwen.

"Still doing tai kwan do?" Robin asked.

"Ah! You dare challenge me?"

"Bring it," said Paul. They then proceeded to tackle Max to the ground. Both of them weigh like 100 pounds, so I was surprised that Max wasn't crushed underneath them.

"Oh, Will, I got your room," said Max over the twins.

"Great. Just great," I heard him mutter.

When we got to Will's room upstairs, it was crammed floor to ceiling in boxes- of Max's stuff, of course.

"How long are you staying?" Will asked and Max fretted around the room.

"Oh, maybe… a week or two."

"All this for a week or two?" I said in disbelief as Max loaded up Will's arm with a box and his pillow. "Where's Will supposed to sleep? Where am I supposed to sleep?" For the past month and a half I've been sleeping in a sleeping bag on Will's floor.

"You can take the attic. You're younger… more versatile. And as for your birthday… 13 years. They grow up so fast." Then Max held up a pair of boxer briefs.

I stifled a giggle as Will said, "14, actually." Max put the briefs on Will's shoulder, and we left.


	2. Birthday Boy

The next morning I was sitting on the couch reading my battered copy of _Gone With the Wind _for the hundredth time, and I was really getting into it. So when Mrs. Stanton said to help get the Christmas tree in the door, I said, "Be there in a sec."

"Come on George, push!" I heard a man at the door say.

"Oh, it's gorgeous, just bring it on right through here… Guys! Come and help!" Mrs. Stanton shrieked for the second time.

I finally marked my place and stood up. Instead of helping, I just kind of stood there and watched the adults struggle to get the tree downstairs.

"So this is Will Stanton, eh?" asked the fat, balding grey-haired man. He reminded me strongly of Santa Claus without the beard. Also, I took notice of Will for the first time. I was so absorbed in 19th century Atlanta that I didn't even notice him come downstairs.

"Pleasure to meet you," continued Santa.

"And you sir," said Will, shaking Santa's hand.

"With a birthday today as well," said Santa's friend.

I stared at Santa's friend. How did these strangers know Will's birthday was today? Stalkers.

"Yeah," said Will, a little surprised. "Yeah, that's right."

"Can I get you gentlemen something? Coffee, tea?" asked Mrs. Stanton, bustling around the kitchen.

"Actually, no… we shouldn't be stopping… there's so much to do before the storm sets in," said Santa.

"The storm?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes… bad weather on the way…" said Santa, trailing off grimly.

Storm or no storm, Will didn't care. He'd picked up his cereal bowl already and just stood there, eating. I caught a glimpse of the window- there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Well, you have a good day, Will," said Santa.

As Mrs. Stanton thanked Santa and his elf I turned to Will. "So."

"Sooo… what?"

"Sooo…. When are you gonna stop stuffing your face and open your presents? Don't tell me you forgot your birthday."

"Oh yeah!"

Abandoning his cereal, we went to the living room, where I dug out my gift from the corner by the fireplace. "I hid it there because it you would find it if it was in the attic," I said in response to his look.

"Heads up, Will," Max called from the upper landing. He tossed a green envelope, and thanks to years playing football, Will caught it. "Happy birthday, big guy," said Max as he came down. "I made a little mistake with the age, though-"

"No it's fine," said Will, but he looked a little disappointed

Then Robin and Paul came downstairs, also wishing Will a happy birthday. "Hey! Here's your present, Will," said Paul. "The second one comes on Christmas, there's two of them!" I watched as Will eagerly ripped it open.

It was a sock.

Unable to control myself, I burst out laughing. The look on his face was just too priceless. Will threw the sock at me, but he was grinning too.

"Here," I said, holding out my gift. "It's from me and Gwen, and I promise you it's not a sock!"

Out of the depths of the bag, Will pulled out a cylindrical metal container with a ribbon that I slapped on at the last minute. "Tess," he said, excitement creeping in his voice.

"Go on, open it!" I urged.

When he opened up the container, his face lit up like the Christmas tree. What Gwen and I got him was a watch- not the cheap one, but the really fancy ones with a stopwatch and everything.

"Tess, you shouldn't have!" Will exclaimed, taking the watch out and examining it.

"We knew everyone else would forget," I said, a little sadly.

"Thanks," he said, and attempted to put it on.

"Here let me help you," I offered, reaching over and wrapping the strap around his wrist. Right around then Gwen came downstairs.

"Happy birthday, Will," she said. "Like your gift?"

"Yeah, way better than everything else."

"So what's your wish?" she asked him, wandering into the living room with us.

"What?"

"It's your birthday. You're allowed to have a wish. Anything."

Will thought for a few seconds, then said: "Snow. You know, like what we used to get back home?"

"Yeah," we both said.

"I want lots of snow."

Later that night I continued reading _Gone With the Wind. _I made it to the part where Rhett bid $150 in gold for Scarlett before Gwen shrieked, "You guys! I got him! He's here! You guys!"

"Hey guys, can you hear me?" came a voice from Gwen's laptop.

"Steven!" all eight Stantons (and me) cried. We crowded around Gwen's laptop, all grinning from ear to ear. Steven was the oldest of the Stanton clan, and was currently serving in the navy. We hadn't seen much of him lately.

"Bros!" Steven called. "Gwen, look at you! You're becoming a heartbreaker! And Tess!

"Sorry I can't be there- as you can see, I'm busy defending the free world."

"We miss you, son," said Mr. Stanton.

"Very, uh, tropical, Steve," said Max, pulling out several brightly colored leis out of the box Steven had sent us.

"Oh by the way, all the gifts are gonna have a sort of Hawaiian theme," laughed Steven.

"Yeah, perfect for, uh, winter in England," I agreed, grinning.

"So how's my little bro, Tess?" Steven asked. "Has he caught a girl yet?"

I giggled. "No, but we _caught _him staring at one like a moron." Will whacked my arm, blushing furiously.

"Oh, and Will, your gift is different," continued Steven. "I was walking through the street market the other day and, I don't know, for some reason I knew it was for you."

"Thanks, Steven!" said Will, and made his way to the box.

"These are fantastic," laughed Mrs. Stanton, gesturing to her pink and yellow lei.

"Haha! Well, I enjoy the day and I wish I was there."

As the others began talking at the same time, Will and I wandered off to the living room to open up Steven's extra gift. Rolled up in a coil was a thick leather belt that looked roughly handmade. There were little pockets on it, as though designed to hold something small and round.


	3. Detained

**Since SO many of you have kept telling me to finish this, I will. I actually might change Tess's name to Kate, for reasons unknown even to me. ANYHOO, ****I present to you... the long overdue chapter three! :D **

* * *

><p>"Hey, Tess, can you come with to the mall with me?" Will asked.<p>

I looked up from my book. "Do mine ears deceive me? Will Stanton actually wants to go to the _mall_?" I feigned surprise.

"I have to get something for Gwen, and I don't know what girls like," he said, shrugging on his jacket.

"Ugh, do I have to?"

"Yes."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"No point in using your Jedi mind tricks on me," I said, going back to _Gone With The Wind._ I could feel a pink tinge settling on my cheeks.

"What if I promised to watch Doctor Who with you tonight?" Will absolutely hates Doctor Who, and I just _had_ to take advantage of this.

I looked up. "Toss me my jacket."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later we were outside, waiting for the bus. And that was when I noticed the crows. They were gathering at a large oak tree near us, all cawing at the same time. More and more came, making the tree look like it had black leaves.<p>

"Whoa," I said, "Do you see that?"

"Sure do," said Will, staring up at the tree.

Just then, brakes squealed. The bus had arrived, and the bus driver was looking a little impatient. I felt the heat rising to my face as we clambered on. I looked back at the tree as the bus pulled away. The crows were now fleeing, flying away from the tree. _Weird. _

* * *

><p>"Okay, now <em>this <em>is cool," I said when we entered the Huntersville Shopping Center 15 minutes later. There were wide windows everywhere, allowing the bright sunlight to stream through. Everything was decorated in red and green and gold, even the little kiosks that sell cell phone cases and the like. It was packed with people doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

"Hey, let's get on the elevator!" I said excitedly, pulling Will by his wrist. "It's all see-through!"

"Wow. Okay," he laughed.

On the ride up, we passed by Santa's village. I grinned as I remembered Robin and Paul telling a six-year-old Will that Santa was actually an escaped prisoner from Canada. Of course, I thought it was baloney but Will totally bought it.

A jewelry kiosk caught my attention. "Hey, Will. Let's check out the stuff there," I said, pointing. "Girls like jewelry."

Will scrunched up his face, thinking. "Gwen doesn't really wear that kind of stuff," he said as the elevator doors split apart.

"It doesn't have to be fancy," I assured him, walking at a brisk pace to the little kiosk. "In fact, something like this would do." I took a simple, earthenware necklace from the rack and slapped it in his hand.

"Excuse me," rang a British voice behind us, and we jumped. We turned around to find a dark-skinned woman in elegant chocolate-brown robes. "Are you going to buy that?"

Will chuckled. "Sorry. Um, it's for my sister."

The woman smiled. "I see. Five pounds."

Will reached into his back pocket and produced the English notes. I watched as the woman put Gwen's necklace into hexagonagal box, and then wrap it in bright green paper.

"Thanks," he said when he got it back, and slipped it into his pocket.

"See how easy that was?" I asked as we made our way down the stairs. "But my gift better not be like that. I'm thinking of something Doctor Who related..." I mean, come on. You don't live in England and not know what Doctor Who is. Sigh. I cried so much when Rose went. Sorry, got off topic for a second there. Where were we? Oh, yes. Christmas shopping. Right.

Before Will could answer, a policeman caught him by the arm. Two of them, actually. Both policemen had on blue uniforms and quite similar haircuts. "I wonder if you wouldn't mind coming back with us?" one of them asked in a clipped British tone.

"Only we think that you may have left the store without paying for an item," said his accomplice.

"What?" asked Will, bamboozled. "No, I don't think so, I'm sorry…"

"Might just be a simple mistake, sir," said the first officer. "But perhaps you wouldn't mind accompanying us back to our office rather than dealing with it here in pubic."

Will looked at me. My confusion was reflected in his face. "Um, alright…" he stammered. He glanced back at me as the two officers led him away, and soon they were lost in the crowd.

I tried to be all nonchalant while I was waiting for him, but I just couldn't sit still. I paced back and forth. My eyes kept watching the large clock hanging above the elevator. The minute hand ticked ever so slowly across the large embellished numbers. I hit my head on the wall ten times for being such a horrible friend. A _good_ friend offers to come along when their friend has just been detained by the police in a foreign country. But what did I do? Stand there and let it all happen.

I have never been more disgusted with myself.


End file.
